Brucellosis is a common zoonotic disease worldwide; however, few cases are reported in the US. Brucella melitensis infections are primarily acquired via consumption of high-risk foods or travel to endemic areas. We describe a case of B. melitensis infection in a Tennessee soldier following deployment in Iraq. Initial symptoms included knee and back pain. Culture of an aspirate of the left sacro...

Thirty-seven Brucella reference and field strains representing all the species and their biovars were analysed by PCR-RFLP to determine the degree of variation in the genes encoding the new members of group 3 outer membrane protein (Omp) family. Analysis of the omp22 and omp25c/omp25d genes indicated that the restriction patterns were identical for all species and biovars with all restriction e...

OBJECTIVE To test in vitro susceptibilities of Brucella melitensis (B. melitensis) blood isolates obtained from an endemic region, by broth microdilution susceptibility test. METHODS Fifty blood isolates were tested with anti-brucella antibiotics, namely, tetracycline, gentamicin, streptomycin, ceftriaxone, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, ofloxacin, and rifampin. All of the clinical isolates bel...

A delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction in the course of brucellosis in humans and animals can be revealed by the brucellin INRA (Brucellergen) skin test. Brucellergen is composed of more than 20 proteins of different molecular weights. A 12-kDa protein eliciting DTH in Brucella melitensis Rev1-sensitized guinea pigs was found to be a significant component for the allergenic properties o...

Brucella melitensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium that replicates within macrophages. The ability of brucellae to survive and multiply in the hostile environment of host macrophages is essential to its virulence. The RNA-binding protein Hfq is a global regulator that is involved in stress resistance and pathogenicity. Here we demonstrate that Hfq is essential for stress adaptation an...

Brucella melitensis is a highly infectious animal pathogen able to cause a recurring debilitating disease in humans and is therefore high on the list of biological warfare agents. Immunoglobulin genes from mice immunized with gamma-irradiated B. melitensis strain 16M were used to construct a library that was screened by phage display against similarly prepared bacteria. The selected phage parti...

Brucella quorum sensing has been described as an important regulatory system controlling crucial virulence determinants such as the VirB type IV secretion system and the flagellar genes. However, the basis of quorum sensing, namely the production of autoinducers in Brucella has been questioned. Here, we report data obtained from the use of a genetic tool allowing the in situ detection of long-c...

Surface antigens of smooth brucellae were extracted by ether-water, phenol-water, trichloroacetic acid, and saline and examined by immunoelectrophoresis and gel diffusion with antisera from infected and immunized rabbits. Ether-water extracts of Brucella melitensis contained a lipopolysaccharide protein component, which was specific for the surface of smooth brucellae and was correlated with th...

In Turkey, where brucellosis is endemic, a comparison of conventional and molecular genotyping methods has not been published to date. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis of rpoB gene in the genotyping of Brucella melitensis strains by sequencing. In light of the molecular genotyping method available now in Turkey, the adequacy of serolog...

Brucellosis is a worldwide disease of humans and livestock that is caused by a number of very closely related classical Brucella species in the alpha-2 subdivision of the Proteobacteria. We report the complete genome sequence of Brucella abortus field isolate 9-941 and compare it to those of Brucella suis 1330 and Brucella melitensis 16 M. The genomes of these Brucella species are strikingly si...